


Might (Have to Tell You Something)

by yousee_saros (all_ivvant)



Series: Watch Your Mouth [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Pining, this is so fuckin dumb thanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 18:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17208881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_ivvant/pseuds/yousee_saros
Summary: Maybe it’s fine after all.





	Might (Have to Tell You Something)

**Author's Note:**

> title from I Like Me Better by Lauv  
> unbeta'd  
> a follow up to [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16904448). should probably read that first.

Brenden feels like an ass. Maybe he shouldn’t have just left without saying anything, but he can’t change what just happened. He would deal with it at practice, or something, just not right now. He gets home and heads inside, dropping his stuff off in his bedroom. Making his way into the bathroom, he looks in the mirror, examining his teeth. He makes a face at himself in the mirror, and then goes into the living room, collapsing on the couch. He’s fucking exhausted.

One time when he was little, he had to get a tooth pulled because the one underneath it was growing in and pushing out the baby tooth. After he had gotten home after that, he had made faces at himself in the mirror until his mom told him to stop. This felt similar, but it was absolutely more permanent. 

He’s pretty sure he’s going to sleep for a million years or something. At this point, he needs it. 

*** 

After three whole days of ignoring Martin, he feels bad. He meant to text him back, but he just didn’t do that. He spent time with his family over the break, and let himself get absorbed in the Christmas festivities, going radio silent to avoid dealing with it. 

His mom freaked out over his teeth, which was expected. One of the kids stuck a purple bow in his hair, which he didn’t notice until it fell off his head and into a thing of whipped cream. It was kind of nuts. But he was back, and they had hockey to play. 

After the Christmas break, they’re back on their home ice for a game before they depart for another road trip. They have a game tonight, so morning practice is mandatory for the whole team. Brenden’s mouth guard still fits pretty badly, and he’s half tempted just to leave it in his bag. He looks at it for a moment, before setting it down on the bench. He’ll deal with it later. 

They run drills and exercises and Brenden is pretty sure he can feel Martin’s gaze boring a hole into the back of his helmet. He spares several glances over at him throughout practice, but he’s never looking. He’s always got his back turned or is looking at a puck or is talking to someone, but never looking at him. Brenden shakes his head and works on passing. 

By the end of practice, he’s looked over at Martin so many times that he’s lost count. Karl rolls his eyes at him as he passes Brenden the puck, and then practice is over. They shuffle into the locker room, and Brenden almost sits on his mouth guard. He makes a face at it, and puts it away. 

Martin creeps up behind him, and rests a hand on his shoulder. Brenden nearly jumps out of his skin, and he looks back to see him, pretty much dressed. He turns around, still holding his shoulder pads, and tries to calm down.

“What is it?” He asks, trying to act like he wasn’t absolutely freaked out for a second. Martin raises an eyebrow at him, as if Brenden couldn’t possibly not know why he was over there. 

“You’ve been ignoring me. I texted you this morning asking if you wanted to go get breakfast or something. It’s like you lose a tooth and suddenly you’re too cool for me or something.” He tells him, and Brenden looks down at the locker room floor. It’s kind of gross, and there’s a weird spot in the floor in front of his stall. He kicks at it, not wanting to look Martin in the face. 

“Sorry, things just got, busy, I guess?” He replies, and immediately wishes that he had said almost anything else. He would rather the earth swallow him up whole than say anything else. Brenden feels like an idiot. 

“Well, that’s alright. You wanna get lunch or something? There’s this place that I found recently that I thought you might like. Wanna check it out?” Martin asks, as Brenden shoves his gear into his bag. He almost drops his skate guard on the floor, fingers trembling.

“I mean, sure. I’m down. I guess I can meet you there or something.” He says, fingers fumbling over the strap of his bag. 

“Sure! It’s not too far from here, I’ll text you the address. Hopefully you’ll see that one.” Martin replies, a little smug. Brenden rolls his eyes at him. His phone buzzes, vibrating against the bench, as Martin walks out of the dressing room. 

***

About thirty minutes later, he’s sitting across from Martin in a booth in the back of a little restaurant. It’s nice, and kind of cozy. Martin is drawing circles in the condensation on his glass, and Brenden is messing with the strings on his hoodie, trying to even them up. When he looks back up, Martin is looking at him.

“So why have you been ignoring me the past few days? I didn’t do anything, did I?” He asks, and Brenden takes a deep breath. He drums his fingers on the table, trying to think of something to tell him, something that’s not stupid. He could just go on ahead and tell him the truth, that he might be in love with Martin, but that would be stupid and he shouldn’t do that. 

“It’s kind of hard to explain, and I really don’t want to talk about it right now, at least not in public.” Brenden says, and looks down at the table. It’s quiet for a moment, and he spares a glance at Martin. He’s holding his drink, fingers sliding against the condensation on the glass. 

“I mean, it seems like there’s been something bothering you for a while now, since the last season. I just wasn’t sure if it was something you wanted to talk about.” Martin replies, voice neutral.  
“Look, I can tell you later, its just right now, it’s not really something I’m comfortable talking about in public. You wanna come over later?” He asks, hoping he doesn’t sound too stupid or something. 

“Sure, I’m down.” 

***

“So like, I think I might be in love with you? I’m not sure yet. I definitely like you, that’s for fucking sure.” Brenden says, once they’re sitting on the couch at his place. He looks at Martin, who is looking ahead at the TV. He takes a deep breath, and looks over at Brenden.

“For how long?” He asks, and Brenden shrugs. He figured out that he was probably in love with him at the end of the season last year, but that was when he was aware of the way he felt. It’s probably been so much longer. He can’t bear to look at Martin. 

“I mean, a while, I think.” Brenden tells the floor. Martin sets his hand on Brenden’s shoulder, and he looks over at him. Martin looks calm, like this hasn’t completely rocked his world. Brenden prepares himself for heartbreak, and waits for Martin to say something.

“Its fine if you don’t feel the same, but- wait, what?” He asks, and Martin looks over at him. In all his haste to explain himself, he must’ve missed something that Martin told him.

“I asked if it would be alright if I kissed you.” Martin says, repeating what he had said. Brenden nods and leans forward, and Martin meets him halfway, cupping his face in his hand.

It’s not like world stopping or anything, but it’s nice. Martin curls his fingers in his hair, pulling softly at the hairs at the back of his neck. Right then and there, Brenden decides that he really likes kissing Martin. 

His mouth is warm, and his lips are soft, and it really is everything he has hoping for, which is stupid, but it’s true. 

If Brenden didn’t think that he was in love with Martin before this, he most certainly is now.

***

They fucking won the game, which was nice because it always felt good to beat Anaheim, but especially tonight. The entire team goes out and almost everyone gets wasted. Brenden ends up dancing with Martin at some point and he’s pretty sure Timo gets a video of them being stupid. 

It’s alright though, because he’s having fun and he makes sure to send it to himself before deleting the video off of Timo’s phone. There’s no reason why he would use it for blackmail material but Brenden is not taking any fucking chances. 

At some point, Martin drags Brenden out of there, flushed and giddy. He’s half hanging on Brenden’s shoulders, and Brenden leans into him, and kisses his cheek. 

At some point, they both end up at Martin’s place, and they’re both giddy and stupid. The two of them end up making out on the couch, which is fun. Brenden pulls him into his lap at some point, hands resting on his hips.

There’s a stupid grin on Brenden’s face, which makes it kind of hard to keep on kissing him, so Martin pulls away from him, and looks down at him, breathing hard. His lips are red and his hands are still in Brenden’s hair.

“What is it?” Brenden asks, looking up at him, stupid smile still on his face. Martin leans back down and kisses him again, before pulling away again.

“I think I’m kind of in love with you,” Martin tells him, “even if you’re missing some of your teeth.”

“So if I still had my two front teeth, you would be super in love with me?” Brenden asks, and Martin laughs a little.

“That’s not what I meant! It's just that I really, really, like you and I thought you should know that, no matter what.” Martin explains, and kisses Brenden again. 

Knowing that Martin loves him? It’s a wonderful thing to know.

**Author's Note:**

> i've decided i'm gonna write about them as much as possible while I have two weeks off from school.  
> it's not a big deal


End file.
